Economics of sirolimus-eluting stents: drug-eluting stents have really arrived.

Since the development of coronary angioplasty in the late 1970s, there have been a series of technical advancements that have improved the outcome of the procedure. Clearly, the biggest advance was to move from balloon angioplasty to intracoronary stenting and now to drug-eluting stents (DES).1,2 These advances have been shown to reduce in-hospital events and to dramatically lower the incidence of restenosis, the long standing “Achilles’ Heel” of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). As these advances have occurred, there has been concern about the ability of society to afford these new therapies.